The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating a multiphase fluid, such as a mixture of oil and gas, into its constituent heavy and light phases. In particular, the invention relates to a phase splitter which includes a core stabilizer for inhibiting the light phase from exiting through the heavy phase outlet in the event of fluctuations in the multiphase fluid stream.
Phase splitters are used in the hydrocarbon production industry to separate multiphase fluid streams into their different fractions or phases. For example, phase splitters are commonly used to separate the production fluid from a hydrocarbon well into separate streams of oil and gas so that these constituents can be transported and processed separately. These phase splitters operate by rotating the multiphase fluid to create centrifugal forces which cause the heavy phase to move toward the radially outer region of the fluid stream and the light phase to form a core in the radially inner region of the fluid stream.
In prior art phase splitters, fluctuations in the flow of the multiphase fluid stream may cause the light phase core to become unstable. This instability can be particularly severe near the distal end of the light phase core and can result in an undesirably large quantity of the light phase exiting the phase splitter through the heavy phase outlet. As a result, the separation efficiency of the phase splitter is greatly reduced.